Gamernode: Latest Xbox 360 News

No more Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on players!

Just a few days after announcing they'd continue to support the HD DVD player add-on for the Xbox 360 during the wake of the HD DVD format's death, Microsoft announced they will no longer manufacture new HD DVD add-on players for the Xbox 360.

The primary reason for ceasing manufacturing is, of course, in response to decisions by Toshiba, Hollywood studios and retailers to withdraw their support for HD DVD. Microsoft will continue to support standard product and warrant support for all current HD DVD add-on players in the market, but that's it folks, no more will be manufactured.

If you're in the market for picking up the HD DVD add-on player for nostalgia purposes, it's expected that the price will drop to $50 next week. Cheap works for me!

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Microsoft: Gears of War 2 will kill on graphics

The Gears of War 2 trailer is out and although the figures and combatants are all shrouded in shadow and silhouette, the very news that another Gears is coming has a lot of gamers having to change their shorts.

But to add to the anticipation is Microsoft claiming that Gears 2 will raise the bar even higher for graphics.

Is Sony listening to this?

According to the Gears of War 2 fact sheet, "Gears of War set the standard for high-definition visuals and became the game to which all others are compared. Gears of War 2 raises the bar even further with the amazing technological advances of Unreal Engine 3."

This will be one heck of a throwdown as Sony's Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 enter the scene and go against Gears 2.

Sony has long proclaimed that the PS3 gaming experience would be superior to ...

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Goldeneye 007 REALLY coming to XBLA?

It was first rumored to be in development, then actually said to be on the way, then totally squashed, and now...really coming? British videogame magazine Xbox World 360 has announced that its next issue (on sale Wednesday, February 27th) will feature none other than Goldeneye 007 for XBLA.

The magazine promises "never-seen shots and hands-on details," and to answer questions such as "How different is it? What improvements have been made? What does it feel like on the 360 pad? And how can we make sure this incredible remake does see the light of day?"

The fact that there is supposedly enough info on the game to run this sort of feature is promising, but that last statement casts some doubt on the certainty of the game's release. I guess we will just have to wait until Wednesday to get the ...

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Gears of War 2 debut teaser

Now that Gears of War 2 has been given an official release date by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski at this year's GDC, I guess it's about time for the gaming community to start drooling over any and all footage that becomes available. Start ogling, because here is the game's debut teaser (which totally reveals nothing, but at least it's almost Gears footage). Enjoy...or complain that there isn't more to see:

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More Aliens: Colonial Marines details, due in 2008...

Out of the movie franchise, Aliens is my favorite because of its excellent action sequences and downright creepy moments. There's nothing more heart-pounding than seeing a motion sensor light-up by upcoming aliens. So to hear that seasoned FPS developers Gearbox Software is working on a brand-new Aliens FPS called Aliens: Colonial Marines, I immediately became interested.

SEGA released some new information today regarding the game; it's coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in late 2008. Players will don the boots of the United States Colonial Marine squad as they travel through and muscle against an alien assault. Confirmed weapons include pulse rifles and flamethrowers while new equipment and skills within a squad-based combat system will be introduced.

In addition to a story driven single playe...

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Rumor: Xbox 360 HD DVD to drop to $50 next week

OK, everybody knows that HD DVD is dead. But if this juicy little tidbit of a rumor is true, it may be Microsoft's way of going out in a blaze of glory.

According to xboxfamily.com, several retailers have indicated that they will be selling the Xbox 360 HD DVD player for a mere $50. Please note that we didn't say a discount of $50 but that the unit will actually cost you $50.

Besides the obvious attempt to unload warehouses full of the 360 HD DVD players to cut Microsoft's losses, it just might be a last dying gasp to perhaps boost sales of the unit in light of Blu-ray claiming victory over the dead body of the HD DVD format.

Ironically enough, if the rumor proves true, it just might generate a huge amount sales for the extinct piece of hardware and bring in more revenue than it could have...

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Microsoft says Xbox 360 is "simply...better"

A game industry professional proclaimed at the GDC in San Francisco, "Games sell better on the Xbox 360 because they simply play better on Xbox 360."

This piece of gaming wisdom came from John Schappert, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Entertainment Business. So as they say, consider the source. 

Schappert continued his cheer leading by saying, "We've got the best development tools and the best online service. You can simply do more on our platform."

While gamers who hold their allegiance to either the PS3 or Wii would dispute Schappert's statements, there is no doubt that the Xbox 360 is a very popular game console.

However, with the PS3 gaining momentum and the Wii continuing to be a top seller, Microsoft can ill afford to just sit on its laurels and proclaim itself the winner--the...

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Microsoft GDC: big plans for XNA program

And now, for the second half of Microsoft's GDC presentation!

In addition to the other announcements, Microsoft also spent some time talking about their XNA game development program. The program, which was created to give homebrew creators a chance to let their products shine on XBLA, seems to finally be taking some more form.

Chief XNA Architect Chris Satchell took the stage to talk a little about the program. The XNA game studio was revealed 18 months ago, as one of Microsoft's many little experiments. "The response has been incredible," said Satchell, revealing that there have been over 800,000 downloads of the toolset. "That's a lot of creativity and passion that we've tapped into out there." In addition to the 800,000 downloads, several hundred universities all over the world have embr...

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Microsoft GDC: Gears 2 dated, Fable 2 multiplayer,...

It's been a busy keynote morning for Microsoft. In addition to all the XNA news (look for that in a moment), Microsoft's presentation at the GDC unveiled some other juicy tidbits Xbox 360 owners are going to love.

The biggest news came at the end, with Cliffy B revealing that Gears of War 2 will hit the stores in November, "exclusively" for the Xbox 360. (I wouldn't be too surprised if we saw another PC port a year or so after.) Gears of War was -- at one point -- the biggest and best offering on the Xbox 360, but the last year or so its title has been taken away by games such as Halo 3, Bioshock, and Call of Duty 4. We'll have to see how the further adventures of Marcus Fenix turn out, but I for one can't wait.

Peter Molyneux was also on-hand, and other than making comments about PC gaming...

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Display 360 gets RRoD at GDC

Cataclysmic despair! At one of Microsoft's show floor booths at GDC an Xbox 360 console actually just got the red ring of death. Short of Bill Gates coming down from on high to say the "PS3 rules," I can't imagine a more embarrassing circumstance for Microsoft.

MS has been touting for a while now that the failure rate of 360s is not nearly as bad as the hype. A gaming sensus company just broke the news to the world that the failure rate probably is as bad as all that. Somewhere around 16 percent.

Despite that though, MS kept singing their tune, until today, when one of their machines died on the show floor. Even when MS had a chance to get brand new machines out there and to hand pick what they wanted, they still couldn't keep the damned things operational for a few days.

The Xbox 360 is a ph...

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Blu-ray technology for Xbox 360 in development?

Rumours have been floating around for months regarding Microsoft integrating Blu-Ray technology in the 360, and with the apparant demise of HD-DVD many more will no doubt arrise.

One such rumour comes from the website SmartHouse. Supposedly, insiders at Microsoft have confirmed that the company has already created a stand-alone Blu-ray add-on in the same vein as the HD-DVD add-on. As long as Markerting and Sales approve the project, there will be a Blu-ray add-on in the coming months.

To add more to the above rumour, the same insider sources have claimed that Microsoft have been working on a new 360 with an internal Blu-ray drive. Now while the add-on rumour is somewhat believable and quite logical, this one might need to be taken with a grain of salt or two.

Firstly, Microsoft fully backed H...

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Pre-order GTA IV; get a Liberty City license plate...

It's obvious that most of us don't need much coaxing in pre-ordering Grand Theft Auto IV. But what some of us may need convincing on is purchasing the Special Edition of GTA IV.

For those who don't know, the GTA IV Special Edition includes the game, an art book, selected musical pieces from the soundtrack of the game, a Rockstar key chain (cool), and a duffel bag. How much will all this extra swag cost you? Try on $89.99 for size.

Too much you say? Amazon.com is sweetening to deal by offering a genuine Liberty City license plate for everyone who pre-orders GTA IV. I have to admit that this extra goodie thrown into the deal has gotten me to think about the Special Edition a little more seriously.

As usual the supplies are available while they last.

After the original price of the Legendary Ed...

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Microsoft says HD DVD failure doesn't bother them

Although the news of HD DVD finally giving up the ghost is upon us, one major player that was backing the deceased format is saying that it won't hardly be affected at all-- namely Microsoft. 

The HD DVD add-on drive for the 360 was its biggest selling accessory but Microsoft still maintains that they won't be hurting from the demise of HD DVD.

Microsoft said, "We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we've long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry."

So is Microsoft thinking about jumping ship to Blu-ray? The company is hedging its bets.

"It is premat...

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Is Microsoft planning a partnership with Netflix?

This story on MSNBC.com reports on some interesting rumors that Microsoft may partner up with the world's largest online DVD rental service, Netflix, to deliver movies over Xbox Live. There are speculations that Microsoft may make the announcement during the ongoing Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco.

Netflix initially showed interest in delivering content through internet-connected HD-DVD (not anymore) and Blu-ray machines, such as the Xbox 360 or PS3 back in October. Recently though, just last week, Netflix released some surveys with questions regarding Netflix used in Xbox Live.

The partnership would easily increase Microsoft's library of movies. While Microsoft's current catalog is only around 300, Netflix's muscular catalog is over 90,000, with 7,000 being instantly available ...

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360 DVD drive failures--"new" problem surfacing?

Last week, SquareTrade, an extended electronic warranty company, reported that approximately 60% of all Xbox 360 warranty claims sent into their offices were due to the Red Ring of Death. But interestingly enough, it also stated that disc read errors amounted to almost half of the remaining warranty claims regarding broken Xbox 360s. 

"Other problems we see crop up fairly often are fried video cards, hardware freezes, on/off failures and, interestingly, disc tray malfunctions that also tend to damage game discs," said SquareTrade.

Could this be the next big ailment to affect that Xbox 360? Most owners of the machine are well familiar with the loud noises that the DVD drive makes as it spins up to speed. Some have compared the sound as similar to that of a 747 jet engine. While this may sound...

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Microsoft recruiting talent for next Xbox

Are we really ready to start talking about the next console in the Xbox family? Seems Microsoft is, thanks to a job posting on Games on Deck. Microsoft is on the search for a new program manager to help in the creation of both the new Xbox as well as the new iteration of the Xbox Live service. Should anyone be surprised by this? Not really.

It was no secret the Xbox 360 team was already hard underway developing the next Xbox just as the 360 was hitting the store shelves. Microsoft has also found success by launching their consoles ahead of the competition so it isn't surprising to see them working hard to capitalize on this strategy a second time. They shouldn't have much trouble since both Sony and Nintendo are hoping to ride out their consoles as much as possible.

So the real question is,...

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LEGO Indiana Jones to feature four player co-op

Stephen Totilo recently spent some time getting to know LEGO Indy up close and personal. For his full impressions, you can check out the Multiplayer blog entry here. What's most exciting about the information is that the game will feature four player simultaneous co-op.

Anyone who's played LEGO Star Wars knows how fun it is to play with a friend. To play LEGO Indy with three other friends? It will definitely be awesome. In addition to learning about the multiplayer, it was revealed that unlike LEGO Star Wars, Indy will have a lot more emphasis on character-specific abilities. For example, Satipo will have a shovel which can be used to dig up treasure, while Indy will have his whip for grabbing things at a distance or swinging over obstacles.

The other good news is that much like the films,...

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Alone in the Dark tech trailer

Unbeknownst to most people, Eden Games (Test Drive Unlimited) is working on the fifth game, Alone in the Dark, in the long-running survivor horror game series of the same name. Having been over seven years since the fourth game, The New Nightmare, Alone in the Dark will experiment with an episodic format by getting released in 30-40 minute gameplay snippets. After viewing the tech trailer below, you can see the many different gameplay approaches Eden Games is toying with for Alone in the Dark. It's coming out for PC and just about every console in June.

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Gamespot recalling Lost Odyssey review?

A recent review done by GameSpot on Lost Odyssey apparently drew lots of commotion with its readers as far as the accuracy of it. One of the complaints in the review stated that the load times were excruciatingly long.

GameSpot stated:

"...Insanely long loading times follow suit, to the point where you will wait close to a minute after a cutscene, only to discover that another scene follows. Make no mistake, Lost Odyssey is an artistic beauty, but in light of other games that use the same engine--and other RPGs on the platform--it doesn't look so incredibly good that it should perform so poorly."

Readers were contradicting the point about the long load times and as it turns out, the review copy that was sent to Gamespot from Microsoft did not include the tweaks, which addressed the loading ...

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Don Mattrick sounds off on 360 shortage

Apparently, Microsoft learned a lesson or two during the last year of Wii gaming dominance, because now out of nowhere some huge Xbox 360 supply shortages are popping up.

Videogamer.com managed to scrounge up some quotes from Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division Senior Vice President Don Mattrick.

"We had some shortages," said Mattrick. "We weren't able to deliver enough hardware against the demand in the market. That's a great problem to have."

"We're addressing that in the coming year," he went on. "It's going to take us a little time to ramp up the manufacturing, but we're really encouraged that people purchased as many games and as many boxes as they did on our platform and we think that bodes well for the future,"

Regardless of the way he tries to spin it, the fact is Microsoft'...

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